A blog about photography and so much more.

Mr. Alfred Stieglitz was an interesting man to say the least. Among his many contributions to the world of photography, was the gift of his Equivalents series. This series was composed entirely of images of clouds, including over 200 photos. At first this may not seem to be very intriguing but, after understanding what his intention was, that will change drastically.

Stieglitz began this series in the early 20th century, setting out to conquer two aspects at once: the perfection of a technical print, and the aesthetic that must lend itself seamlessly to that print to create a perfect marriage between the two.

That in itself is quite a feat to accomplish, as any artist will tell you. His influence with Equivalents did not end there however. This series can be argued to be the first abstract photographs created and the first to attempt to forgo their literal meaning.

So, for this weeks inspiration (photographically related at least), I would like to honor the man who essentially ushered in the use of symbolic photography.

I’ll admit, my inspiration generally comes from other photographer’s work or other paper based artwork. It is not uncommon, however, for me to be inspired by other forms of art or even random things in general. One such example is something I came across yesterday while browsing the web aimlessly. The Spring/Summer collection Au Clair from the 2010 Australian Fashion Week, by designers Lyna Ty and Melvin Tanaya, is pretty great. I do not follow fashion very closely at all, but I am always impressed by quality and craft. This collection from Song for the Muted is just something that stood out from all the others.

The photography, by Jeff Yiu, is also very impressive and definitely worth a mention.

In her work, Payne explores the idea of suicide, and the the affect it has on family members. It is a very personal subject that is rarely talked about openly. Interviews with family members who have lost someone, help to show how drastically a suicide can impact the lives of those left behind.

I made an earlier promise to attempt to share work that I find truly inspirational, and hope to follow through as much as possible. Today I have one artist in particular that I wanted to share: Hiroshi Watanabe. His work is fantastic, with underlying cultural themes that offer a wonderful sense of depth to the work.

Rodney Smith is a photographer anyone and everyone should take a moment to check out. A personal favorite of mine, he has produced a wide variety of iconic images over a long period of time. Being quite partial to classic black and white imagery, his seductive use of light and tonality never fails to make me stop short and stare. When I find myself buried with schoolwork, or just work in general I like to go through my collection of inspiration and take a moment to just experience other people’s work and forget about my own. More times then not, it serves to allow for an extended period of increased and inspired productivity for myself! So as I look at these sources from time-to-time, I will make it another goal of mine to share them here for anyone out there who may just find them to be inspirational too.